"Few products escape the Amazon touch," the Duke said. "Books, the cloud, foodstuffs, servers, credit cards, insurance, tv, music - the most prosaic and t

"Few products escape the Amazon touch," the Duke said. "Books, the cloud, foodstuffs, servers, credit cards, insurance, tv, music - the most prosaic and the most exotic . . . even our poor handmade products from local mom and pop stores. Anything Amazon will transport [...]. But all fades before our personal data. The altered quote above may be a bit of a pessimistic quip, but I think in this day and age, nothing comes quite as close to Herbert's `Spice` as peoples personal data. Gather enough of it, and you do not only have the ability to glance into an individual's past, but into their near future, too. Amazon the company offers a lot of services. Soon you'll be living in your Amazon Home [1], ordering food from Amazon Groceries and household items from Amazon Basics. You'll be working at some Amazon owned company [2][3], drive an Amazon vehicle [4] and pay for your Amazon insurance[5] with your Amazon issued credit card. I find it harrowing that antitrust laws have been neutered so much in current times, where a breakup of the few well known Megacorps would have been necessary a decade ago. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc. are slowly creeping their way into every aspect of life where there's a chance for monetary gain. Currently, a few select ventures are so large they can either outprice any meaningful competition for years until they fold, by just eating temporary monetary losses; or swallow them and incorporating their spectrum of products into their own lines. Even worse, some control the one and only marketplace on which competition can spawn, giving them the ability to shut down their opposition for inane reasons. Look at the FlickType keyboard on the Apple Watch for an example. [1]: They started two years ago by selling tiny houses. More will surely follow: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49260-you-can-now-buy-your-house-on-amazon/ https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49260-you-can-now-buy-y... [2] Amazon owns more than 100 companies https://www.forex.com/en/market-analysis/latest-research/what-does-amazon-own/#:~:text=Amazon%20owns%20more%20than%20100,%2C%20groceries%2C%20media%20and%20medicine https://www.forex.com/en/market-analysis/latest-research/wha.... [3] Amazon employs 1 Million people - In the US alone. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amazon-now-employs-almost-1-million-people-u-s-or-n1275539#:~:text=Business%20News-,Amazon%20now%20employs%20almost%201%20million%20people%20in%20the%20U.S.,double%20the%20federal%20minimum%20wage https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amazon-now-em.... [4] Did you know that Amazon sells and lends cars? https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles/b?ie=UTF8&node=10677469011 https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles/b?ie=UTF8&node=10677469011 [5] https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/technology/amazon-dips-its-toes-into-insurance-with-new-partnership-249646.aspx https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/technology/amaz...